Teaching Activities for: ‘Vaping Can Be Addictive and May Lure Teenagers to Smoking, Science Panel Concludes’

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Before reading the article:

Glance through these highlights of a new study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that concludes electronic cigarettes can be addictive for teenagers. Pay particular attention to the bold headings in the report.

What is your immediate reaction, and why? Do you vape, or do any of your friends or family members? What is your experience with electronic cigarettes?

Now, read the article, “Vaping Can Be Addictive and May Lure Teenagers to Smoking, Science Panel Concludes,” and answer the following questions:

1. What did the national panel of public health experts conclude in a report released on Tuesday?

2. What does the cigarette industry argue about teenage use of e-cigarettes and conventional smoking in the United States and elsewhere? What do antismoking advocates contend?

3. What did David Eaton, of the University of Washington, who led the committee that reviewed existing research and issued the report, say about e-cigarettes and their impact on health?

4. What are the statistics on smoking rates among adults and teenagers, according to the article?

5. How, and why, are companies that sell tobacco alternatives profiting from the decline in smoking rates, according to the article?

6. What are some of the complexities surrounding the e-cigarette debate? What examples can you point to in the article, and why?

Finally, tell us more about what you think:

Go to the Readers Picks comment section of the article, and read 15 to 20 of the comments.

Find two or three that raise a question you hadn’t thought about, or one the article did not address. What were these comments, and why did they stand out to you?

The article ends with opposing statements — one from Tobacco-Free Kids and the other from the American Vaping Association — about the report:

“What the report demonstrates is that despite the popularity of e-cigarettes, little is known about their overall health effects, and there is wide variability from product to product,” said Matthew L. Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “That makes the case even stronger for F.D.A. regulation. This report makes very real the concern that e-cigarettes may well increase the use of combustive tobacco products.”

The vaping industry was cautiously optimistic about the influence of the report. Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, a nonprofit that advocates for vapor products, said it was good news. He said the findings were consistent with those reached by the Royal College of Physicians and other institutions in Britain that have issued reports indicating e-cigarettes are less dangerous than traditional smoking and help with cessation.

What is your opinion? Do you think e-cigarettes are more harmful or beneficial to teenagers, and why?